Entertainment

Content Marketing: 5 Non-Profit Success Stories to Learn From

Frank Barry, professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

These days, non-profits are strategizing online content to help connect with the right web audiences. The concept of creating content to engage with your audience isn’t new, especially in the non-profit world, but it is becoming more critical to creating online success.

According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), “content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience — with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

A report by industry analyst Rebecca Lieb for Altimeter states that content marketing is the up and coming way to grab people’s attention online — something every non-profit and for-profit organization is trying to accomplish.

CMI research backs Altimeter’s findings: 60% of businesses plan to increase their content marketing budgets over the next 12 months — up from roughly 50% in the previous year.

Content Marketing and Your Non-Profit

If you think about it, you’ll quickly realize that non-profits have been using this type of marketing for years.

When you boil it all down, you should care about content marketing because your partners and potential constituents demand that you do — it’s how they’ll connect with you online. If you want to reach people in this ever-changing, online and social world, you’ll need great content.

5 Ideas to Help Your Non-Profit Get Started With Content Marketing

1. Big Brothers Big Sisters: Leverage video to tell your story.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has been doing incredible work for over 100 years and, while content marketing isn’t news to the organization, staff is using content along with social media to make sure the online world knows about its work.

Through the Start Something Web Series, the organization is shedding light on the impact that “bigs” have on “littles.” Participants share their stories in videos published to Big Brothers Big Sisters' YouTube channel. The stories spread through website shares and Facebook talks.

Meet Kyhron and Dan in episode four to see how Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is using content marketing effectively.

Pro tip: Figure out how to turn the unique ways your organization is changing the world into content that can be used online.

2. March of Dimes: Use a multidimensional approach.

Since 1938, March of Dimes has been changing the world one baby at a time.

Along the way the organization has shared life-changing stories to help shed light on how it makes a difference. More recently, the organization decided to harness the power of the web and content marketing by allowing people to follow the life of its 2012 national ambassador.

Pro tip: Allow the people you impact to tell their stories by creating digital assets.

3. Best Friends: Harness the power of user-generated content.

Best Friends Animal Society helps place dogs and cats considered "unadoptable" into good homes. The organization has been at it since 1984 and, with the Invisible Dogs Campaign, has stayed true to that mission.

The Invitsible Dogs grassroots movement has goal of finding every pet a home. Best Friends has strategically used content marketing in the form of user-generated content, easily created through an iPhone and Androidmobile app. My Dog ID lets you take photos of yourself and uses facial recognition to find your dog match.

Clearly it’s a fun app to play with, but the magic happens through user-generated content. The app prompts users to share their photo matches with friends on Twitter, Facebook and on Best Friend’s user-generated Dog Wall.

Pro tip: Mobilize the people who are passionate about your cause with fun and engaging opportunities.

4. Charity: Water: Empowering staff be creative.

For its five-year anniversary charity: water launched a creative campaign, thanking supporters who helped the organization raise the $42 million dollars needed to launch 4,282 water projects to 2 million people in need.

From a traditional non-profit perspective, the idea of thanking supporters isn’t new, but creating an online video is a creative way to deviate from the norm. Finding ways to remix older forms of content delivery is a hallmark of new age content marketing, and it’s also a great way to produce lasting content for your organization.

Pro tip: Give your staff the freedom to publish content that connects you to your supporters.

5. Make-a-Wish: Stay true to your brand.

Make-a-Wish Foundation arrived on the scene in 1980 by helping one boy become a police officer. It now grants a new child’s wish in the U.S. every 40 minutes.

Make-a-Wish has introduced children to Beyoncé and Michael Jordan, and has helped children record professional songs. The Make-a-Wish Foundation always has material for great content, and the organization has figured out how to bring that content online.

By sharing all video wishes on its YouTube channel, publishing every granted wish on its website, and sharing content on Facebook and Twitter, the organization has put its brand online for the world to interact with.

Pro tip: Stay true to your brand, but find new ways to bring your message to the world.

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